Travel Q&A

Q. I'm trying to book a vacation to Ft. Myers in late September. I've been trying to book on Spirit Airlines, but I need to know the price and availability of at least one “big front seat” (the ones with extra width and legroom) on each flight. They used to give you the price of both the regular seats and the “big” ones before booking and you'd be able to reserve it right away. Now they only show you the “big” price after you’ve booked the regular seats (allowing you to upgrade). I'm hesitant to book a flight because one of the passengers is tall and needs the legroom. Is there a way to get this info that I'm missing?

I would be willing use another airline but need to have an aisle seat at a bulkhead or exit row because he needs the additional leg room. Any suggestions on a good airline or a way around this? Unfortunately, the price is an issue. We're willing to pay extra for the type of seat he needs within reason.

A. Not sure where you’re flying from, but if you can’t be certain to upgrade to two seats with extra legroom on Spirit, you might pay an extra fee to choose a seat in their economy section with even more legroom (Spirit is one of the growing number of airlines that charges for advance seat selection). Seats 12A and 12F on their Airbus A321 aircraft, for example, have several feet, not just inches, of legroom because they’re located at emergency exits and there’s no seat in front of them. The same goes for seats 26A and 26F on those planes. Spirit’s “Big Front Seats” actually only have 36 inches of legroom (although they do provide more elbow room), and JetBlue, which also flies to Ft. Myers, has many seats with that much legroom on all of their jets (choose the “Even More Legroom” option). You’ll have to pay a slight premium (perhaps around $30 each way) to reserve one of these seats. We suggest that you head over to Seatguru.com where you can specify airline and flight number and see seat maps showing how much legroom each aircraft offers on scores of airlines, and which seats in economy sections have no seats in front of them.